Vettel quickest but turbo problem stops Raikkonen

Ferrari topped and tailed the times sheets after the first practice session in Bahrain.

Sebastian Vettel set the quickest time in his SF70H on a scorching hot track. The track temperature was a punishing 47C at the start of the session.

But the heat took its toll on the team’s other car. Kimi Raikkonen was sidelined with an overheating turbo after just half-a-dozen laps.

He wasn’t the only driver experiencing motor problems. Stoffel Vandoorne stopped his McLaren with another suspected Honda problem.

Neither Mercedes driver seemed to approach a representative time, ending the session tenth (Lewis Hamilton) and fourteenth (Valtteri Bottas). Conditions are expected to be much cooler during qualifying and the race.

In their place the two Red Bull drivers completed the top three, Daniel Ricciardo getting within four-tenths of a second of Vettel’s benchmark.

Sergio Perez took fourth for Force India ahead of an unhappy Felipe Massa. The Williams driver suffered an apparent brake failure approaching turn 13 which pitched him into a high-speed spin. He and team mate Lance Stroll, sixth, continued to complain of a lack of grip from the FW40.

The second Force India of Esteban Ocon was seventh despite being vexed by his former team mate Pascal Wehrlein late in the session. Fernando Alonso got his McLaren into the top ten ahead of Romain Grosjean and the first of the Mercedes.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1’32.697		21
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1’33.097	0.400	22
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1’33.566	0.869	23
4	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1’34.095	1.398	22
5	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1’34.246	1.549	24
6	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1’34.322	1.625	25
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1’34.332	1.635	23
8	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1’34.372	1.675	14
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1’34.564	1.867	21
10	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’34.636	1.939	28
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso-Renault	1’34.838	2.141	13
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1’34.927	2.230	13
13	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	1’34.997	2.300	10
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1’35.002	2.305	27
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1’35.068	2.371	19
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’35.579	2.882	21
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1’35.888	3.191	23
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber-Ferrari	1’35.959	3.262	23
19	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Toro Rosso-Renault	1’36.079	3.382	16
20	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1’42.333	9.636	6

First practice visual gaps

Sebastian Vettel – 1’32.697

+0.400 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’33.097

+0.869 Max Verstappen – 1’33.566

+1.398 Sergio Perez – 1’34.095

+1.549 Felipe Massa – 1’34.246

+1.625 Lance Stroll – 1’34.322

+1.635 Esteban Ocon – 1’34.332

+1.675 Fernando Alonso – 1’34.372

+1.867 Romain Grosjean – 1’34.564

+1.939 Lewis Hamilton – 1’34.636

+2.141 Daniil Kvyat – 1’34.838

+2.230 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’34.927

+2.300 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’34.997

+2.305 Valtteri Bottas – 1’35.002

+2.371 Jolyon Palmer – 1’35.068

+2.882 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.579

+3.191 Marcus Ericsson – 1’35.888

+3.262 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’35.959

+3.382 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’36.079

+9.636 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’42.333

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

2017 Bahrain Grand Prix

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12 comments on “Vettel quickest but turbo problem stops Raikkonen”

AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
14th April 2017, 13:27
so Macca the slowest car? Still no confirmation.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
14th April 2017, 13:28
Now that’s a very, very tight midfield! hope it stays the same with the cooler temperatures of the night.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
14th April 2017, 13:35
Was Mercedes running different tyres, respect to Ferrari especially? It’s strange to see them so low in the timetable.
1. Michal (@michal2009b)
  14th April 2017, 13:38
  No, they ran softs as well. Probably less fuel and/or performance runs plus they were done earlier than others’ laps.
Christopher (@twiinzspeed)
14th April 2017, 13:46
Mercedes know they lack a bit in really hot temps. I think they chose to do their work without showing their hand (weakness) to Ferrari. They know things will come back to them with the cooler temps tomorrow. I think we have a great fight on our hands this season. I just hope there are some great battles in the process. If Ferrari can find a bit in their qualifying engine modes, things are going to get intense. :)
Kgn11
14th April 2017, 14:00
Wow! The McLaren’s are quicker than the Mercs
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
14th April 2017, 14:05
Ferrari have a new front wing and a new floor. Good to see the Scuderia being very agressive in terms of developement pace.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
14th April 2017, 14:09
FP1 Force India teamradio
Ocon to engineer: “I don’t know what Wehrlein is doing”
Engineer to Ocon: “Wehrlein doesn’t know what Wehlein is doing, so don’t worry about him”
Ouch…. Now we know for sure Force India hates Wehrlein and went with Ocon!!
1. Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
  14th April 2017, 17:51
  @jeffreyj That’s how I read it as well, rather than how sky read it. A Merc junior team and former teamate rivalry would make sense if the engineer hadn’t said that.
2. Todfod (@todfod)
  14th April 2017, 20:47
  Hate’s a little strong. They just chose the better of the two drivers.
MG421982 (@)
14th April 2017, 14:54
Wonder what’s Mercedes strategy, they were like 2 seconds slower than Ferrari… with the same tyre! That’s a looooooot of sandbaging.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
14th April 2017, 17:44
I wonder whether Ferrari checked their turbo and the whole of their PU after China, Kimi was complaining about some strange glitches on power. Now at the same spot as last years another turbo failure, they also had one in aus 2015, I know Ferrari doesn’t make their own turbos but is it a weak point?